Inflatable surgical packing.



A. L. BECK.

INFLATABLE SURGICAL PACKING. APPLICATION men AUG-l. I916.

,235 .095 Patnted July 31,1917.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIGE.

AUGUSTUS L. BECK, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ELLA. C. BECK.

INFLATABLE SURGICAL PACKING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1917.

Application filed August 1, 1916. Serial No. 112,498.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUcUsTUs L. BECK, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Rochelle, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Inflatable Surgical Packings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

One of the most embarrassing and painful features of any operation within the nasal cavity is the necessity for careful firm packing to arrest the hemorrhage. Owing to the fact that the posterior extremity of this cavity is open, and afiords no confining abutment against which to pack the gauze which is used for this purpose, it becomes very difficult to apply pressure eficiently to any wound near this posterior extremity, and, in creating pressure in any portion of the cavity an excess of gauze must be introduced. This form of packing must remain in place many hours and the continuous excessive pressure tends to create congestion in the eyes and other adjacent parts, so that almost intolerable conditions are often produced.

A further difficulty and a further source of much pain and perplexity is found in the troubles incident to removal of the gauze packings hitherto used. These become soaked with blood which hardens, causing adherence, and it is often impossible to remove them without reopening the wound.

I have shown a preferred form of the device in the accompanying drawing which shows a human skull partly in side elevation and partly in section, with my improved packing shown in side elevation within the nasal cavity.

My improvement comprises an inflatable bag properly shaped and of proper size as shown, and having sides of thin rubber 10, and closed ends 11 and 12, made relatively resistant although sufficiently soft and flexible. These reinforced portions form ends which are preferably sloped with relation to each other, as shown, so as to cause the packing to conform to the shape of the cavity. The lower edge of the bag is also dented, as shown at 18, to fit the corresponding conformation of the floor of the cavity.

By having the front and rear ends of the bag reinforced, any material ballooning forward out of the nose or backward into the throat is avoided. The special advantage of this feature is that the distended bag is automatically retained in the nose without any tendency to move forward or backward therefrom.

From the anterior reinforced end of the bag there extends a flexible rubber tubing 14, which comes out through either nostril, and is sufliciently long to be doubled back and tied, to confine the air after inflation.

In use, the well lubricated deflated bag is introduced right side up into the nasal cavity through either nostril, and is then inflated by simply blowing into the tube 14:. A convenient mode of introducing the defiated bag is to insert in the mouth of the tubing a probe having a bulbous end, and forcing this probe through the tubing into the far end of the bag. After the bag is inserted, the probe is pulled out and the air pressure is applied. As soon as air pressure is thus applied, the thin sides press outward in all directions with a smooth, even and equal pressure, and there is created an ideal and controllable packing means which will serve to arrest hemorrhage and close any wound with a minimum of discomfort to the patient. The reinforcement at front and back prevents the bag from expanding materially in these directions, thus providing the confining means which is not afforded where the old fashioned packing is resorted to..

The equal and smooth pressure is obviously superior to the necessarily harsh and ill-distributed pressure obtained with gauze. The rubber surface does not absorb any blood, and, being lubricated, will never adhere. It can, therefore, be adjusted and removed while defiated without material disturbance to the injured surfaces.

It is an important feature of my invention that the bag should be properly shaped to conform to the nasal chamber so that when inflated there will be a minimum of stretching of the fabric to produce any change of form. Any such stretching is painful when it occurs and is even more painful on defiation, as the contracting fabric tends to pinch the tender membranes in contact with it.

I have found by experience that these packing bags accomplish their object in much less time than the old fashioned gauze packing, as well as more effectively; and that they may, therefore, be left in place a much shorter time than has been found necessary hitherto.

My inflatable packings are useful in various connections other than merely for stoppage of hemorrhage. For instance, Where an operation is performed to remove the bony septum, the soft septum being left, one of my bags can be used on each side and the septum be held strictly in a middle position during healing by appropriate pressure on the tWo sides. Again, in cases of fracture involving the internal septum, my bag can be made very useful in connection With eX- ternal instruments or the fin 'ers in proper adjustment of the edges of the bone when the fracture is reduced.

lVhat I claim is- 1. A pneumatic packing for the purpose described comprising a closed flexible bag Whose shape is conformed to the nasal chamber and having comparatively resistant ends, and an inflating tube leading into one end of said bag.

2. A pneumatic packing for the purpose described comprising a narrow closed flexible bag longer on one edge than the other,

and adapted to fit the floor and Walls of the nasal chamber and having comparatively resistant ends, and an inflating tube leading into one end of said bag.

3. A pneumatic packing for the purposes described, comprising a closed flexible bag having its front and rear ends reinforced and thereby rendered less distensible, and having its side Walls of thin flexible material adapted, when distended, to bear flat against the Walls of the nasal interior, With an inflating tube connected to the anterior border of the bag.

4-. A pneumatic packing for the purposes described, comprising a closed rubber bag having its front and rear ends reinforced and thereby rendered less distensible, and having its side Walls of thin flexible material adapted, when distended, to bear flat against the Walls of the nasal interior, with an inflating tube connected to the anterior border of the bag.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

AUGUSTUS L. BECK.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gpmmissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

